For today's experienced musician, an expression pedal such as a wah-wah, volume, (or others that use a rocking type mechanism controlled by the foot), are as common as the music from the 60's where many of these effects were born. Conventional use of the foot or feet by any member of the musician family of artists, in addition to the population of pedal or pad type users (in various industries, activities, games or sports) is well defined. For the musician population, this includes operation of variable electronic controls such as an expression-type pedal used by guitarists, physical type pedals used by percussionists, sustain or organ pedals used by keyboardists, and so on. Other existing uses of the feet include control of one or more pedals activated by on/off switches typically found in a guitarist's pedal board.
These conventional pedals are quite simple to operate between songs, however, for many musicians and especially new users, it can be difficult to coordinate these foot motions while playing an instrument such as an electric guitar due to cognitive overload, especially during complex solos, and most difficult when using a rocking type expression pedal. Instead, the use of foot pressure as the control method has shown to be more natural as an expression of the music rhythm, and can be modulated simply by bending the knees, shifting weight, or stomping the foot. This feature alone opens the pedal market for this invention to the more novice musicians, and offers the user improved balance over a pedal that is fixed in one location. Furthermore, the control profile from pressure of a stomping foot can ramp up and down through the range of control very quickly, which is a motion nearly impossible to duplicate through the use of a conventional expression pedal. This fast attack capability creates the control technique that can be compared to the fast profile of an auto-wah, but now with the ability to control gradually on demand and the motion becomes a part of the performance. As with most music industry pedals, this approach separates the pedal control function from playing the guitar, unlike several recent inventions that integrate the control function with the hands or movement of the guitar only to further complicate operation. These hand-mounted audio effect controllers create conditions where effect modulation interferes with finger picking or strumming. So it is one object of this invention that it is easier to modulate audio effects for both the experienced musician and new users alike over any other existing system.
Another key object of this invention is to provide a method that allows users the freedom of movement about the stage. Conventional musician pedal effects require the performer to stand in one location on stage. Some musicians, for example, Kirk from the band Metallica, use several expression pedals located at different locations on stage for creating the same wah-wah effect offering him different stage positions to engage with the audience. Alternatively, to obtain more freedom of movement, the foot controller in this invention uses a motion sensing device, such as an accelerometer, to monitor foot movement patterns as the method of activating or deactivating audio effects. Because it is critical to ensure this accurate on/off control, foot movement pattern recognition may include use of the foot pressure sensor as well as the ability for the user to select from a set of desired foot movement patterns or even create their own. As there are potentially hundreds of foot movement patterns possible, several specific patterns are disclosed that focus on similarity to conventional controls that allow for ease of learning, ability to distinguish patterns to prevent false triggers, and ease of use by taking advantage of natural body movements. And when using this embodiment to simulate conventional stomp switch audio effects, this same freedom of movement about the stage makes it even easier than a stomp switch because the performer need not look for the pedal. Simply tap the toe of the foot, for example, and the pre-armed pedals are toggled. And for keyboardists who kick the classic sustain pedal out of proper position, this invention again solves this problem so the musician can ignore it and focus on the keyboard or audience. Simply assign or map the controller to any one or more of these MIDI channels or parameters. It's the pedal that goes wherever you go.
During the active state, the foot controller monitors foot pressure and a radio transmits this data to a Base Unit for variable modulation of one or more audio effects either internal to the Base Unit or externally to other audio effects. This way, commands can operated across more than one audio effect and the foot controller can be used to either modulate or activate/deactivate the armed effect or multiple armed effects simultaneously as desired by the user.
A tactile element of this invention, such as a vibration motor, provides user feedback regarding the activation or deactivation process. When combined with pressure modulation control, and made a part of the footwear, there is no longer a need to look for the pedal during a performance thereby allowing the musician to focus more on the instrument or audience.
Many musicians use more than one type of expression pedal, so having one pedal to control all audio effects reduces the overall equipment and setup time needed for a performance. And because the pedal is part of a shoe or insole, then any type of pedal board enclosure would be capable of housing the Base Unit where some expression pedals won't fit. For the professional musician, for example Slash's performance during the 2010 Super Bowl where all the effects were off-stage except his one expression pedal, for the first time they could enjoy a stage that is free from any effects hardware completely.
Even new audio effects can be made available to the live performer, instead of relying on conventional sound crew for mixing. For example, a wide stance of the feet combined with a side to side weight shifting of the performer makes for a natural panning control method that would normally be difficult to synchronize by a second person; again this new control method is based on foot pressure.
In another embodiment, a wireless relay transceiver provides additional range for the performer, and further simplifies the musician's overall setup because it combines conventional wireless instruments with the foot controller using a single Base Unit, whereas, a wireless audio effects controller and a wireless instrument would normally require two Base Units, one for each. This integrated approach has the benefit of reducing power requirements for the foot controller, extends the RF range, and reduces the overall cost for the musician as compared to two systems.
This invention also includes a unique set of criteria for defining new uses for this foot controller invention, including examples where these criteria apply. In the music industry, the original idea was born. On a wider scale, unique criteria for determining the language of foot motion becomes an even more powerful application of this concept in fields such as gaming, manufacturing, medical, sports, or any industry.